The containment pod hissed open.
A young woman in crimson stepped lightly onto the deck of the Hydra battleship, her movements slow and dreamlike, eyes hazy as though she had just awoken from a long sleep.
Pierce stepped forward, his voice calm but commanding.
"Wanda," he said evenly, "I need you to open that metal cage in front of us."
The girl was Wanda Maximoff — the Scarlet Witch.
Many believed her powers came entirely from the Mind Stone hidden in Loki's scepter. But that was only part of the truth. The stone had awakened what was already there — her innate Chaos Magic — and Hydra had merely exploited the opportunity, turning Wanda and her brother Pietro into living weapons.
But Wanda's soul was not cruel.
Even at her darkest, she rarely killed. She preferred to bend the battlefield to her will — clouding minds, weaving illusions, breaking her enemies from within. She had once forced Tony Stark to face a vision of global annihilation, sent Captain America into a dream of failure, and even caught Thor and Natasha off guard with her magic.
If she had wanted, she could have slaughtered them all.
But she hadn't.
And when she discovered Ultron's plan to annihilate humanity, she defected and fought beside the Avengers — proving her true allegiance.
Now, though, Wanda stood here against her will.
Hydra had her brother.
"Wanda," Pierce said again, his voice harder this time. "Don't forget — Pietro is still in our custody."
Her hands trembled.
Red energy began to curl around her fingers like smoke, and the air grew thick, heavy, oppressive. Hydra's soldiers instinctively backed away, knowing what Wanda could do if she lost control.
Pierce raised both hands in a calming gesture, softening his tone.
"This isn't about killing. I just need you to open the cage. Free the prisoner inside, and when we return, you'll see your brother again. You'll be saving someone — not hurting them."
That gave her pause. The fury in her eyes dimmed slightly.
Then —
WEE-OO! WEE-OO!
The battleship's alarm blared. Radar lit up with fast-approaching contacts.
S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jets.
Fury and the others were closing in.
Pierce's patience snapped. "You have thirty seconds," he said coldly. "Do it — or your brother suffers."
Wanda's expression hardened.
Her eyes glowed bright crimson.
She floated upward, both hands spreading as Chaos Magic surged from her palms. The ocean itself recoiled, waves surging outward in a perfect circle around her.
When she reached the prison, she hovered above it, her fingers weaving intricate sigils in the air — a deadly, beautiful dance.
The vibranium-alloy sphere groaned in protest. Metal shrieked like a wounded beast as her magic forced it apart.
Inside the prison, General Ross felt his stomach drop.
"Emergency protocol — terminate all inmates!"
"YES, SIR!"
The guards acted immediately.
Some cells erupted in white-hot flame, reducing their occupants to ash.
Others filled with toxin — prisoners' screams were cut short as they dissolved before the soldiers' eyes.
Explosive collars detonated, sending heads rolling against reinforced glass.
It was brutal. Final.
Ross didn't care. These were the world's most dangerous criminals. If Pierce broke them free, hundreds or thousands of innocent lives would pay the price.
He strode to the smuggler's cell, ready to activate the kill command —
— and then he was airborne.
A burst of red energy slammed through the room, hurling Ross and every soldier off their feet and into a heap against the far wall.
The air rippled.
Wanda floated gracefully into the cell block through the opening she had made, her crimson eyes sweeping across the room until they landed on Snakehead — the smuggler Pierce wanted.
She pressed her hands against the glass.
CRACK!
The entire cell shattered into glittering shards.
With a gesture, her magic wrapped around the prisoner — alloy shackles and all — and lifted him effortlessly out of the vibranium cage.
High above, Pierce's grim face finally broke into a victorious smile.
"Mission accomplished," he barked. "Abandon ship! Everyone to the aircraft — we're leaving!"
---
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San